Arsenic in Drinking Water
Announcements and Updates
Public health concerns about arsenic in drinking water related to its potential to cause adverse health effects are addressed through the adoption of state and federal drinking water standards, also called maximum contaminant level (MCLs).
California's revised arsenic MCL of 0.010 mg/L (equivalent to 10 micrograms per liter, μg/L) became effective on November 28, 2008. A 10-μg/L federal MCL for arsenic has been in effect since January 2006. Previous California and federal MCLs for arsenic were 50 μg/L. The online rulemaking file for this action can be found at the 2008 California Revised Drinking Water Standard for Arsenic rulemaking file.
The Division of Drinking Water is currently investigating the technological and economic feasibility of lowering the MCL below the current California and federal MCL and closer to the Public Health Goal (PHG). For more information and updates regarding this pre-rulemaking action, please see the in-progress arsenic MCL revision rulemaking file.
Health Effects
Ingestion of arsenic can pose a risk of cancer, according to OEHHA's PHG for Arsenic in Drinking Water (April 2004). The PHG is 0.004 μg/L, based on lung and urinary bladder cancer risk, corresponding to a de minimis cancer risk level (i.e., up to one excess case of cancer per million people per 70-year lifetime, if their drinking water contained arsenic at the concentration of the PHG). Arsenic can also result in a number of non-cancer effects at higher levels of exposure (e.g., vascular effects or skin effects), but the cancer risk is the most sensitive endpoint, and the basis for the PHG. Additional information on arsenic's health effects is available from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, the National Toxicology Program, and the World Health Organization.
Occurrence
Arsenic is ubiquitous in nature and is commonly found in drinking water sources in California. As part of the in-progress MCL revision, occurrence data for arsenic in drinking water sources is being compiled for various arsenic concentrations considered for the revised MCL and the number of sources that are impacted above those concentrations .
The Division of Water Quality’s GAMA Program, in its Groundwater Information Sheet for Arsenic (PDF), has a map of arsenic detection, based on monitoring information from DDW's water quality monitoring database.
More Information and Resources
Information about drinking water quality (including arsenic and other contaminants) in specific drinking water supplies is available from DDW's Drinking Water Watch website.
Public water systems seeking assistance for arsenic-related projects should be aware of funding opportunities for water systems, some of which may be available for such projects.
- Information for Public Drinking Water Systems
- Residential Water Treatment Devices
- Division of Drinking Water
- USEPA’s Arsenic Rule for Drinking Water
- DDW's Water Quality Monitoring Database
- The GAMA Program's Groundwater Information Sheets for Chemicals of Concern
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Contact Us
State Water Resources Control Board
Division of Drinking Water
Regulatory Development Unit
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 100
Sacramento, CA 95812-0100
Street Address:
1001 I Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
E-mail us at DDWRegUnit@waterboards.ca.gov.
